Promise
by Laura x Tennant
Summary: "They need you, Doctor. Jack...everyone. The universe needs you," she tells him. "And what if I need you?" he asks her desperately. Rose makes the Doctor promise her something. My typical Rose/Ten romance-y stuff, with a teeny tiny dash of angst :D x
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Ten/rose story. Set somewhere in series 2. Imagine they've met up with Jack though, 'cos he pops up in this too.**

**Promise**

They run.

"Doctor!" Rose exclaims, panting erratically to try and catch her breath. "Look out!"

Rose's warning comes just in time and the Doctor ducks, narrowly avoiding being hit in the head by a flying object that's been hurtling towards them thanks to the Parrot people of Notreatydd.

"Woah, that was close!" replies the Doctor, pausing in his sprint to bend over and pick the unidentified object up. "What the...?" he mutters to himself, which is followed swiftly by a yelp as another one is thrown towards him.

Rose turns around and motions for him to hurry up – she really doesn't fancy being Parrot lunch today. Or ever, actually. "Come _on, _Doctor!"

"Right! Yes, yep, of course, on my way!" he replies, looking quizzically at the object in his hand before putting into his pocket. He catches up with Rose, and, noticing they are surrounded by Parrot soldiers in several directions, pushes her through the only way out.

A door. A huge, metal door. With bolts on.

Which turns out to be the entrance to a cupboard. Quite a large cupboard, though, so...silver lining and all that.

"Ah..." he says, shutting the door behind them. Rose looks up at him, her hands on her knees as she inhales deeply.

"They're gonna break the door down and get us anyway, aren't they?" she asks him.

"Erm...maybe. Probably. Sorry..." he replies sheepishly.

"Great," she responds sarcastically.

"I wish that door had been the door to the outside world..."he murmurs distractedly, pushing the heavy iron bolts across in an attempt to hinder the Parrots' efforts to open the door. "...instead of a cupboard. Stupid cupboard. Why do we always end up in - "

"- this isn't a cupboard," interrupts Rose. "It's completely empty. No shelves or anything. It's just a room, Doctor. An airtight room at that."

"Yes, well," he says. "I suppose it does look more like some sort of holding cell. No windows, one door. I'd say we're still trapped."

"Mmm. No windows, one door, and a hatch..." she says, the last word in a singsong sort of voice as she gestures above their heads with her hands. There, in the middle of the ceiling, is a small square-shaped, bolted door.

The Doctor follows the direction of her hands pointing upwards, definitely not noticing her top ride up a little to give him a glimpse of her stomach. Definitely not.

"Ohhh! Rose Tyler, you notice everything!" he says admiringly.

"Yeah, but in a cold, empty room, it wasn't exactly hard to miss," she retorts, looking at him strangely. "Not exactly much else to look at, is there?"

"Apart from me, you mean?" he says, winking at her.

She raises her eyebrow. "Yeah..." And she can't help it. She knows he's teasing, and he'll tease her more for this, but she simply cannot help it. She lets her eyes sweep over him, legs to head, and he grins at her devilishly. She sniffs and looks up at the hatch. "Exactly. And you're not that interesting compared to that."

He looks affronted for a moment. "You words wound me, Rose Tyler." He watches her as she reaches up to push against the hatch, but it won't budge.

"Can you sonic it?" she asks through gritted teeth as she heaves with all she's got.

"I can try, but how much do you want to bet that this is deadlock sealed?"

She pauses, letting her arms drop to her sides, and listens. There's nothing to hear except the Doctor and her breathing. "They aren't trying to get in," she realises. "They aren't trying to break the door down. They've locked us _in _here rather than we've locked them out. Right?"

"Right," he replies, wincing slightly. "But hey – at least we're not being eaten."

"Yet," Rose smirks.

"Hmmm. Yet," he agrees.

"It's alright though, 'cos Jack will get us out. Well. As soon as he's flirted his way past all the guards," she tells him, giggling slightly.

"I hope so. But...he doesn't know where we are," the Doctor replies, worried that they'd be trapped down here for ages. He tries the sonic screwdriver on the hatch, but, as he suspected, it doesn't work.

"You shouldn't have wandered off without him, then," Rose says, and he spins around to look at her.

"Me?" he exclaims indignantly. "You were the one who wandered off without saying anything!"

"You didn't have to follow me, though," Rose counters.

"Of course I did."

She raises an eyebrow, pleasantly surprised at his answer.

At her look, he decides that he should expand his answer. "_Otherwise _you'd have ended up in here on your own, and we'd never be able to find you. There must be about eighty cells like this, just in this section of the complex."

"Actually, of you hadn't followed me, I wouldn't have been associated with the man who told the Chief that he smelt like bananas – that's you, you big Time Lord idiot, by the way - and I would be walking around out there completely safe and - "

" – How was I to know that he'd take offence to that? I was _complimenting _him! And I'm _not _an idiot, thank you very much," he argues.

"Yeah, well, some people just don't have the same weird appreciation for bananas like you do," she tells him, folding her arms across her chest defensively.

"Weird? It's not _weird!_ They are just...quite tasty. I like them. Is that wrong? That's like saying I have a weird appreciation for you, just because I like you."

"Are you seriously comparing me to a banana? It's completely different. A banana is a _fruit. _I am a _person," _she explains, enunciating the words slowly as if she's talking to a toddler.

"Yes, I am very aware of that, thanks." He's allowed to taste bananas, after all. He can't exactly walk up to Rose and ask her if he can –

Best not continue that sentence, actually.

"So, what do you like better?" she asks him, hiding a smile.

"What?" he replies, perplexed. He'd gotten distracted by his imaginative daydreaming again.

"Bananas or me?" She laughs at his confused expression.

"Weeeellll..." he says, considering.

She stops laughing.

"Wait. Do you really have to think about that?" she demands.

He flashes her a grin. "Nah. Course not. Bananas are good," he says, nodding. He laughs when she frowns at him. "But you're better," he adds cheekily.

"Oh, you charmer, you," she mutters sarcastically. "So. Have we just got to wait here until Jack gets to us, then?"

"Yep!" the Doctor replies cheerfully, popping the 'p.'

"Great," Rose says again, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor.

"What's up?" the Doctor asks, noticing how weary Rose looks at the prospect of being stuck here. Sure, it's not exactly cosy, but at least they're not being roasted. Yet.

She looks at him. "I just don't know if I can take another moment of being in here, stuck with you," she tells him sombrely. Trying not to laugh.

"Well. That's rude," he replies, but he knows she's only joking because her eyes are twinkling in the way they do when she's being mischievous. He rather likes her eyes.

"What?" Rose asks, the corners of her mouth turning up into a smile.

That's when he realises he must've said something aloud. Something he shouldn't have.

"What?" he echoes, feigning ignorance.

"You just said 'I rather like your eyes,'" she tells him, laughing.

"Ah. Didn't mean to, really. I was just...thinking," he replies nervously, tugging his ear and sitting down next to her on the floor.

"You think about me often?" she teases, bumping his shoulder with hers.

He shifts his body, moving closer to her and looks her in the eye. "Maybe," he says softly.

She returns his gaze with wide eyes and her mouth hanging slightly open. She closes it and clears her throat. "What else do you think about me, then?" she murmurs, well aware of the sudden electric tension that's surrounding them.

He opens his mouth to reply, but before he can, Rose's gaze shifts to behind his shoulder.

"Oh my god!" she exclaims. "Look!"

**TO BE CONTINUED :D**

**A/N: Like it? Hate it? Let me know via that lovely little review button just there, below this author's note. Thanks! Much love xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"What?" he asks, turning around. "Oh. Oh dear."

They both stare at the wall. The wall which has a pipe coming out of it that they didn't notice before. A pipe, coming out of the wall, with water swooshing out of it.

"Are they going to fill this room up with water? It's airtight!" she says, panicking slightly.

"Looks like it. They obviously couldn't wait long enough for us to suffocate from lack of oxygen, so they decided to drown us instead," he murmurs.

"Awww, well isn't that nice."

"I'm sorry, Rose. I'm so sorry," he turns to look at her again, grasping her shoulders. "But there's no way out."

"It's ok. Jack will find us."

"But what if he doesn't? It's a maze out there."

"I'm trying to be optimistic here," she tells him in an admonishing tone, then pokes him in the chest. "And here you are being all sombre and miserable. We're not going to drown in here."

She sounds so confident in her assurances that he smiles, half-believing her.

"That's better. You're smiling again. Now, where were we? You were going to say something."

"It doesn't matter," he replies, jumping up. "You're right, we have to get out of here..." He paces up and down the room, touching walls, hitting the door, pushing against the hatch again. He whips out his sonic screwdriver, flicking through all the settings, trying in vain to get the door to open. Rose just watches, her eyes flicking between the increasingly desperate Time Lord and the pipe. The water is slowly filling the room, and Rose wonders how long it'll take to fill up completely.

"Doctor? The water's at what, five inches, already, yeah? How long 'til it fills the room?"

He turns around, contemplating her question, but still not looking her in the eye. "Weeelll. I'd say...around eleven minutes? Give or take a few..."

"Eleven minutes," she repeats, letting out a breath. "I hope Jack's on his way, then."

The look of utter defeat the Doctor gives her almost breaks her heart. She can't let him lose faith in their friend.

She smiles and stands up, walking over to the Doctor. She stops right in front of him, and reaches her hand out to turn his head to face hers. Barely an inch away from him, she whispers, "Eleven minutes, and he'll save us, Doctor. We'll just have to wait. And hope." She intertwines her hand with his at their side, and to her utter surprise, he leans his head forward to press a kiss to her forehead.

He notices her shiver, but presumes it's because of the cold water creeping up to meet their legs.

"I know," he whispers back. Then he grins. "Can't ruin this suit, can I?" he says, forcing some joviality back into their conversation.

"Exactly," she smiles, and wraps her arms around his neck in a tight hug. "This isn't your fault, you know."

"Not what you were saying earlier," he mumbles into her hair, bringing his arms around her waist.

"Yeah, well, I was just arguing for the sake of it. Stupid, really. But seriously; don't feel guilty."

"It is all my fault though," he admits, pulling her back to look at her properly, his hands resting on her hips lightly. "And I am sorry."

"Stop apologising, you," she says tapping him on the nose affectionately. She bites her lip thoughtfully for a moment, which he definitely does not notice, and definitely does not keep looking at, mesmerised. Definitely not. "Doctor, considering we might drown in ten minutes time, would you like to tell me what you were going to say earlier?"

"Hang on, hang on - you can't manipulate the situation like that. And where did your confidence in our survival go, eh?"

She smiles at him cheekily. "Damn. Thought that would work."

He looks down at the water, currently reaching their knees. He considers his options. He could tell her what he was going to say, and they would be his last words to her before they drown. Or, they would be the last words he said to her before Jack saved them. And in that case, the words would be said, and he wouldn't be able to take them back. And then what would happen? Things would be awkward. And complicated. And she might leave him.

This is a problem indeed.

"Doctor?" she says, when she realises his not going to say anything.

"Hmmm?"

"I'm starving," she tells him. He chuckles at her, and she giggles back.

He remembers the flying object from earlier and pulls it from his pocket. "Muffin? Chocolate chip. Good enough last meal?" He hands it to her and she looks at him quizzically. "Yeah, I know. Weird choice of weapon, eh? Silly Parrots."

"Maybe they were counting on you picking it up. Maybe they're trying to fatten you up before they cook you..." she teases.

He stares at her appraisingly. "You're quite logical, aren't you? Clever human."

"Yep, that's me – not your average 'stupid ape.'"

"Definitely not a stupid ape."

She takes a few bites of the muffin, and holds it up to his mouth. He takes a bite of it too, then grimaces. "Yuck."

"What do you mean, yuck? It's gorgeous!" she exclaims.

"Now who has a weird appreciation for food?"

"It's not weird."

"Well, neither is me liking bananas."

"And me."

"And you," he agrees, chuckling.

The water's reached their thighs now, and still they cling to each other in their half-hug. The muffin's gone in a few more mouthfuls, and the Doctor watches her intently.

"What?" she asks self-consciously. "I told you, I'm starving."

He laughs. "You're beautiful," he says, before he's had a chance to check the words.

She blushes. "What? Where'd that come from?"

He scratches his neck awkwardly. "I don't know. Sorry. It's just..."

"Yeah?"

"I don't want to lose you."

She strokes his cheek softly and then realises what she's doing. She drops her hand. "I know. But you know what? I'm pretty stubborn." He nods his head in agreement. "So I reckon you're stuck with me for a _really _long time."

"Good." He draws her into another hug and they stand in silence for a few minutes.

"Jack's taking his time, isn't he?" Rose mutters when the water level reaches their shoulders.

"I'll never forgive myself if you we don't get out of this today."

"But we will, so don't worry about it."

"But what if we don't?"

"Why are you being so negative? You're never usually like this."

"That's because I usually have a plan."

"Doctor," she says, pulling back and taking his head between her hands. "Say you're right, yeah...Say you're right, and we do drown...what happens to you?"

He turns his head and refuses to look at her.

"You regenerate, yeah?" She waits for him to answer. "_Yeah?_"

He nods, but barely. "But there's always a choice."

She looks up sharply. "What's _that _supposed to mean?"

"I can choose whether to regenerate or not."

"But you would, yeah? You'd choose to live," she insists.

He shrugs.

"Doctor. You wouldn't just give up."

"Wouldn't I?" he asks, looking her in the eye.

"They need you, Doctor. Jack..._everyone._ The _universe _needs you," she tells him, half-laughing.

He grasps her wrists in his hands, fixing an intense gaze on her. "And what if I need _you_?" he asks her desperately.

Rose stops laughing, now painfully aware that he's being serious. Her eyes widen and it's all she can do to shake her head and murmur a quiet "No."

"Yes," he argues.

"Don't. Don't say that. Doctor, whether it's today or fifty years time, I'm going to die. But you have to carry on, and find someone else. You have to. You _have _to. Promise me that you'll never give up, Doctor," she begs him, shaking his shoulders forcefully, tears suddenly in her eyes.

"Rose..." he begins.

"_Promise _me." She pushes her forehead against his. "Please."

He hates seeing Rose so upset, so he decides that now is the time to make her feel better.

Now is the time to lie to her.

"Ok, ok. It's ok, Rose. I promise, please don't cry, it's ok," he tells her, stroking her hair softly.

"Thankyou," she replies, breathing a sigh of relief. A relief that is short-lived when she sees that the water level is still rising, and in around a minute or so she'll be submerged. She blinks back tears, knowing now how very unlikely it is that she'll actually survive this. If Jack hasn't come for them yet...maybe he never will.

The Doctor notices this too, and due to him being a good few inches taller than her, he lifts her up to keep her face level with his. To give her more time. She's shocked at his movements for a moment, wondering just how he managed to lift her legs up and around his waist so quickly.

How ironic that the moment reality is playing out like her favourite dream, it's also close to re-enacting her worst nightmare: being separated from the man she –

"Rose," he whispers.

"Yeah?"

"In about thirty seconds..." he trails off, unable to finish his sentence due to the lump in his throat.

"He's not coming, is he?" she says quietly. She feels the Doctor shrug beneath her fingers still grasping his shoulders.

He clears his throat. "In a few seconds, I'm going to do something that's going to shock you. But trust me. It's for your own good."

"Ok..." Rose manages to say, lifting her chin upwards to try and keep the water from flowing into her mouth.

"Ok. I promise, this isn't some trick or hidden agenda; it's purely to save you. It doesn't mean anything. Weeelll, it does, actually, but that's irrelevant. Basically, it's going to keep you alive, and that's all that matters to me right now..."he rambles. She stares at him, confused, and slightly panicked about how close she is to slipping under the water.

And without a moment's more hesitation, he kisses her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Her eyes flutter shut and her mouth falls open in surprise and he takes the opportunity to explore. Feeling the water rising over their heads, he feeds oxygen into her mouth as he kisses her.

That double respiratory bypass of his does come in handy sometimes.

Her hands move to his hair and it's quite possible that she forgets that she should be drowning in water, because right now she's drowning in him. She's drowning in an inconceivable, undeniable explosion of love for the man attached to her mouth, and she thinks she's never been so happy.

She pretends this isn't a kiss of life, of sorts.

She pretends this is him, the Doctor, kissing Rose Tyler, because he wants to and because he can.

And so does the Doctor.

He wades his way through the water a few feet, as they start to float, the water rising above their heads. She feels him push her against a wall as he presses his body against hers, giving her the best - and possibly last - snog of her entire life.

And she thinks: there are worst ways to go.

She's fairly passive in the kiss, to be honest, as although he's kissing her properly, he's still aware that if she pulls back, just for second – if his mouth moves from hers for even an instant of time – she'll swallow a load of water. So he tries to focus on keeping her alive with his steady breathing, definitely not thinking about how her hips feel under his hands, or how her lips are so soft, or how she tastes of chocolate. Definitely not.

And then something's happening, and she's not really sure what because the Doctor's kissing her and that's all she's thinking about right now.

The Doctor senses something's different, something to do with the pressure and possibly gravity or something, but he doesn't care, because he's kissing Rose Tyler and –

Oh.

_Oh._

They suddenly collapse to the floor in a heap, the Doctor on top of her, his lips still against hers, as the water flows out of the room somehow. And then they hear a throat being cleared purposefully. The Doctor pulls back slightly, resting his forehead against Rose's, and as her eyes flicker open he tells her that she was right.

"Honestly, if you wanted some privacy, all ya had to do was ask..." comes the teasing voice of Captain Jack Harkness from the doorway to the room.

Rose beams, and slaps the Doctor on the arm wearily. "Told you he'd come and save us."

"I am brilliant at saving you two, you gotta admit that. Makes this slightly awkward, though, eh Doctor? What was going on here, last kiss for the condemned man or something?"

The Doctor pointedly ignores this, heaving himself off of Rose, who explains with a huff that he was only feeding her oxygen. Jack scoffs disbelievingly and the Doctor stands, pulling Rose up to stand next to him. She sways a little, unsteady on her feet, and Jack steps forward as if to help her.

"It's alright," insists the Doctor, wrapping an arm around her waist to hold her upright. "I've got her." He then proceeds – despite mumbles of protest from Rose – to lift her into his arms.

Jack retracts a few steps, recognising that look of the Doctor's immediately. It was the same look he gave Jack whenever the Captain flirted with Rose. It was the same look he'd given him back when he had blue eyes.

Hands off the Blonde.

Honestly, this time? He was only going to help. Seriously. Rose looks exhausted – she nearly drowned, for God's sake - and he was going to offer to help the Doctor carry her home. He wasn't at all noticing the way her wet clothes were clinging to her body, or the way her hair was curling in lovely ringlets around her face. Not at all. Even Jack knows there's a time and a place.

Sort of.

Jack wonders, on their slow, silent walk back to the TARDIS, whether the Doctor finally told Rose how he feels about her. At that moment when it could've been his last chance, did he tell her? Jack can't decide. Although conversation between them is absent, the silence isn't an awkward one. And something actually twinges somewhere inside him when he sees the Doctor brush a wayward strand of hair out of her face as he carries her – bridal style – with her looking up at him, a content, relieved smile on her face.

They reach the TARDIS, and Jack unlocks the door, holding it open for his friends. Gently setting Rose on her feet once they're inside, the Doctor asks her if she wants to go take a shower.

"Bit exhausted for that, actually. It's funny how kissing you takes it out of me," Rose replies, smiling her teasing smile. She collapses onto the jumpseat with a happy sigh, closing her eyes.

Both her friends chuckle as she appears to settle herself there, and she opens one eye to regard them. "What? Look, I know I'm soaking wet, but all I want to do right now is sit here with you two and remember the fact that I'm still alive."

"You're going to freeze," replies the Doctor. "What you need is a nice, hot shower to warm you up." He's only saying this to be practical. It's not remotely imagining her in the shower. Definitely not.

"I can think of better ways to warm up," Rose deadpans, a cheesy cliché often used by her ex-Time Agent friend, who's eyes widen.

"Woah there, Rosie. That's _exactly _what I was about to say," Jack tells her. "You up for the job, or shall I step up?" he asks, winking at the Doctor, who – to his friend's great amusement – is actually blushing. And glaring at him quite profusely.

Ha. 'Time Lords don't blush' indeed. This proves that particular theory of the Doctor's – construed and insisted upon one night when the three of them accidently got as drunk as skunks on spiked lemonade, and Jack had groped him rather unsubtly – wrong. Again.

"Go to bed, Jack," sighs the Doctor.

"What, on my - "

"- Yes, on your own."

"Charming!" Jack exclaims, mock-affronted, but he nods all the same. "Night Rose," he says, walking over to her. She opens her eyes and returns her friend's hug goodnight, whispering a "thankyou for saving our lives" into his ear.

"My pleasure," he replies, and as he lets her go, her eyes drift shut again and she folds her legs up to settle onto the jumpseat more fully. He looks at her for a moment, smiling softly, before spinning around and stepping towards the Doctor. "As for you," he murmurs, quietly so that Rose doesn't hear him. "Tell her. Before or after you remove her wet clothes; I don't care. Just tell her." And with a friendly, encouraging grin, Jack says goodnight and leaves them alone.

The Doctor stands still for a moment, staring in the place where Jack had been standing, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. Tell her. Right. Clothes. Hmmm.

"Rose? I don't think that that's the best place for you to fall asleep," he says softly lifting her legs up and onto his lap as he sits down next to her.

"I'm not going to fall asleep. I'm just resting my eyes a bit. They're sore after the water and everything."

"Still, don't you think you'd better go to bed? You've had a long day."

"I..." she begins, opening her eyes to look at him intently. She swallows nervously. "I'm not that tired. I'd rather...I want to stay in here with you."

He smiles at her. "Ok," he whispers, pulling her closer. Rose snuggles against him.

"Can I ask you something?" she murmurs.

"Yeah."

"What are you thinking about right now?"

The Doctor tenses and he coughs uneasily. "Weeelll. Um...I'm thinking about where I can take you next," he lies.

"Really?" she replies, sounding awfully disappointed.

He scratches his neck. "No."

"Oh?" She sits up properly to send a questioning glance his way.

"I was thinking about you, actually."

"Yeah?"

"Yep."

"What about me?" she asks, shivering slightly.

"Weeellll..." he begins, then notices her shivering. "Come on, Rose. Let's get you out of those clothes, you're freezing."

She raises an eyebrow. "You were thinking about taking my clothes off?" she asks innocently, fighting the urge to laugh hysterically.

"Ye - no! What? No, no, no, no, no. That's not...I just meant, you know, you should get changed and that, and then we can carry on...talking," he stutters.

She loses her internal fight, and bursts out laughing. "You're so adorable when you're embarrassed," she chokes out in between giggles, ruffling his hair.

"Oi, don't laugh at me. Rose. Rose, it's not funny. Come on, stop laughing. Now. Rose. _Rose."_

Rose laughs harder.

"Please Rose. Stop laughing at me!" he exclaims. "Honestly! Humans!"

"Time Lords!" she replies matching his distasteful tone, still laughing manically.

"Right. Only one way to resolve this. You've done it now," he warns. Then as quick as anything, he's thrown her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, and is sprinting down the corridor with her.

"What? What are you...put me down you...silly alien!" She considers smacking him on the bum, but promptly decides that she shouldn't, because that would be wrong.

As if him carrying her like this, with his hands on _her _bum to hold her steady, isn't...

"Why should I?" he counters, slowing to a walk as he nears her bedroom.

"Well. Because you're quite old. You might damage a hip or something..." she teases, and he puts her down immediately.

"What did you just say? Did you just insult my _age? _Rose Tyler. How very dare you." He fixes a look on his face that says 'Oncoming Storm' to many alien species across the universe. But not to Rose Tyler. To Rose, it actually looks quite...

Well. Sexy.

"Why Doctor, where's this look of smouldering desire coming from?" she laughs.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

He raises an eyebrow. "Smouldering desire? Right, well, I was going for angry, but I guess your mean, insulting behaviour towards me just then turns me on too much," he teases right back. He's pleased with himself when she blushes.

"Oh yeah? Anything else that turns you on?" she asks, unsure of how and why they've got to this rather flirty point in the conversation, but revelling in it nonetheless. She's conveniently forgotten that she almost drowned and should possibly be resting right now.

He throws a sexy grin in her direction. "Oh yes. You in a soaking wet white top for a start."

She looks down at herself briefly and wonders why she never realised the potential see-through consequences of wearing this particular top today. She shakes off her embarrassment to continue teasing him. "Well, no wonder you wanted to snog me before I died. And isn't that a coincidence? 'Cause I happen to find tall, handsome men in wet pinstripe suits devastatingly attractive." As if to prove her point, she takes a few steps closer to him, and tugs on his tie. This does of course remind the Doctor of Cassandra's behaviour, and he briefly wonders if Rose is in her right mind, or possessed again. Never have they gone this far in their flirting. It's always been light and teasing, kind of: look but don't touch. And here she is, loosening his tie. He gulps. "But...you know. Better get it off. Wouldn't want you catching Time Lord pneumonia or something..." she smiles at him cheekily, amused at how he looks so...seduced by her actions.

"Well, that is what I've been suggesting all night. And as for the snog..._that_ was to save your life," he retorts.

"Really," she states disbelievingly.

"Really," the Doctor insists.

"Felt pretty passionate to me."

"Well, I very passionately wanted you to keep breathing," he counters.

"Shame the sensation of it is fading from my memory, though."

"What, do you want another one?"

"Would you?" she asks, smiling wickedly.

He pretends to consider this. "Maybe on your birthday, if you're very good." Then he turns back into Caring Friend Mode. He nods towards her bedroom door. "Go on, in you go. Time to get changed before you ice up."

She winks at him as she turns to go inside, and can't resist adding cheekily, "Aren't you going to help me?"

His eyes widen for a moment, and he seriously considers following her, but before he has a chance to reply, she's laughing on the other side of the door.

Right. She was just joking. That's all. Playful banter. Plus, she almost died today.

It's a bit mean though, isn't it? Getting him all...flustered. And then just walking off. Mind you, he did sort of send her in there.

She almost died today.

He almost lost her.

And she doesn't even know that he...

He stands there, outside her door, contemplating how he can tell her, once and for all, how he really feels about her.

And in her bedroom, Rose leans against her door, trying to get her heart rate back to normal. She knows they had only been joking around, and he didn't mean any of that, but...she can't help but feel frustrated that he hasn't followed her in here anyway.

He can't just stand here, he rationalises. He turns to walk away, then spins right back around again. What happened today...they got lucky, in the end. But he doesn't want to ever get to the point where he runs out of time to tell her. He wants her to know.

He reaches for the door handle.

Rose wants to go back out there and tell him that she's not playing anymore, please can he just bloody well kiss her. But she knows that she can't do that. That would be...wrong.

Oh, but so very brilliantly right.

She turns and puts her hand on the door handle. But before she has a chance to open it, the Doctor pushes it open from the other side (without knocking, as usual). She stares at him in surprise.

"Doctor...?" she says.

"Rose. Hello. I thought, you know, to be polite and everything, you should get your birthday present early."

She takes a sharp intake of breath. "Well, it is a long way away. Don't know if I can wait that long..."

"Exactly. You've got to have something to dream about every night, haven't you?"

"Aren't you full of yourself..." she replies, smiling widely.

"Mmm. Ok. I'll take back that sentence and replace it with '_I've_ got to have something to dream about every night, haven't I?'"

"You don't sleep," she counters, her voice wavering slightly, such is her anticipation of what's to come.

"I might sleep now. Although, I have got quite good at daydreaming."

"Daydreaming? What sort of things do you have to daydream about? You could have anything you want, go anywhere you want."

"That's not strictly true, is it?" He smiles softly, and closes the distance between them swiftly. She reflexively takes a few steps back, hitting the bed with her legs and falling backwards onto it.

"Whoops," he quips, peering down at her.

At that, she frowns, and pulls him by his tie to land right on top of her. "Whoops..." she echoes, smiling devilishly.

"I think you did that accidently-on-purpose, Rose Tyler."

"So what if I did? What are you going to do about it?"

"Maybe I should show you just what my daydreams are made of, hmmm?"

"That depends. Only if it involves me. If it's about fixing some part of the TARDIS, I'm not interested."

He chuckles. "It definitely involves you..."

And with that, he leans his head towards hers, hovering a few inches over her lips and he's about to kiss her when –

"Am I interrupting something again?" asks Jack from the doorway, his hands on his hips and a wide grin plastered over his face.

The Doctor jumps up quickly, and Rose is about to tell him to just ignore Jack and kiss her anyway, when he bounds over to the door.

Jack expects him to push right past, embarrassed, muttering 'no' and he feels a bit disappointed in himself for announcing his presence like that. He really wants these two to get it on already – the unresolved sexual tension flying around on the ship is driving him insane. But he'd seen her door wide open while on his way to the kitchen to get a drink, and he couldn't resist. Now he wishes he'd stayed silent so that he could've watched the scene unfold, instead of cutting it short like this.

However, he is very surprised when the Doctor looks him straight in the eye, tells him "Yes" in answer to his question and slams the door right in his face.

Jack's momentarily stunned. He feels disappointed that he can't have a peek, but he's also ecstatically happy that the Time Lord's finally giving Rose what they've both wanted for so long. He smiles to himself, and walks away.

Back inside her bedroom, the Doctor lets out a deep breath, and after about twenty seconds of silently staring at the door, he turns back to face Rose. He's greeted by an empty bed. "Rose?" he calls. "How can you wander off at a time like – ohhh..."

She steps out from her ensuite bathroom, wrapped in a tiny dressing gown and not much else. "I decided that I should have a bath. You know. To warm up."

"Right. Yes, of course," he replies, unsure of what to do next. Should he just...leave her to it?

She sighs and walks over to him, taking his hand. He obviously isn't going to make the first move here. "It's a big bathtub," she tells him sincerely. At his confused look, she continues "I'm sure it'd be better with two..."

Realisation dawns. "Ohhh...yes. Yes, I'm sure it would."

She turns to lead him in there, but he spins her back around, grasping her arm in his other hand. "Wait. Rose...I...I just want to say..." he begins. Then, thinking words won't be good enough, he pulls her in for a passionate kiss. His arms wrap around her waist as her hands grasp his lapels, and this, _this _is the best kiss of her life, pushing their earlier one down to second place.

Finally, she pulls back, breathing heavily and leaning into his embrace for fear she can't stand up by herself. "Well said," she mutters, smiling up at him.

"I thought so."

"Promise me you'll do that every single day that I'm with you?"

"Oh, that's a promise I'm definitely going to enjoy keeping. So...bathtime?" he replies.

"Definitely."

And that is that.

**A/N: Hey :D Hope you enjoyed the story. Please review! Thanks, and much love, Laura xxx**


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